Warwick Swimmer to Participate in Open-Water Marathon for Charity

Swimming has always come naturally for Warwick’s Anna Drawer, who is set to compete in her first Swimming Marathon on September 8 2024. Participating in the 10km race for the charity Level Water, Anna hopes to raise money to help provide swimming lessons for disabled children.

Anna will be competing in the River Dart 10k in her home county of Devon. One of the most renowned open-water swimming routes in the UK, the swim down the Dart spans the distance between the town of Totnes and the village of Dittisham, cutting through some of the most picturesque landscapes the South West has to offer. But Anna isn’t just taking part to admire the view.

Anna’s interest in open water began during the Covid Lockdown

Her background in swimming goes back to when she was 12 and first started competing in galas for her local club. Initially swimming all strokes and distances, she soon took a liking to longer races, such as the 800m and 1500m freestyle. Speaking to The Boar Sport, Anna stated she enjoys the “peaceful and tactical” nature of the long swim – “you can get into a good rhythm”.

Anna’s interest in open water began during the Covid Lockdown, when the closure of conventional swimming pools necessitated a new approach to training. “We put a large paddling pool in the garden and I swam in it every day using a bungee cord attached to the decking. It was very cold, and not nice, but it kept me sane”.

Splitting lockdown hours between her makeshift underwater treadmill and the nearby North Devon sea, Anna would enter her first open water event in the same year, coming 2nd overall in the 1km race. A 4km effort would follow in 2021, before Anna made the leap to a 5k swim in the 2022 Southwest Regionals. Finishing 5th overall and narrowly missing out on qualification for the nationals, she would compete again in the same year at Roadford Lake, this time taking 2nd place.

Anna’s journey to her first swim marathon has not been without setbacks

Exploits in open water would extend to Warwick’s Swimming Team when Drawer started university in 2022. An active member and regular competitor, Anna was named as Women’s Captain last year, and perhaps surprisingly can be found representing Warwick in freestyle 50m and 100m sprint races in the pool.

Despite being a highly talented swimmer in both pool and open water, Anna’s journey to her first swim marathon has not been without setbacks. “In 2023 I was expecting to compete again at regionals, and had my sights set on entering my first marathon, when in May I contracted glandular fever”. The illness prevented Anna from swimming untroubled for nearly four months, and put other parts of her life on hold – “I had to defer my exams to September, meaning revision through summer break, and missing out on swimming plans too”.

Now having made a full recovery, Anna is looking excitedly forward to her longest open water swim yet in just under a month’s time. She professes a love for the ‘“camaraderie” that marathon swimming can offer, as well as the tactics involved – “you have to be aware of everyone around you, and pace the race to not run out of energy”.

If you would like to help support Anna and her great cause for charity, you can find her JustGiving page here.